4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2016
Lawsuit: County board
voted unanimously to
join 11 others in the suit
From caskets to cremation
Caldwell recalls
past 40 years in
funeral industry
Continued from Page 1A
When the housing mar-
ket collapsed and foreclo-
sures became a regular occur-
rence across Oregon — and,
to a smaller degree than else-
where in the state, across Clat-
sop County — these “below
ground” transfers meant that
property owners often didn’t
know who their mortgage
holder was. MERS records
are not public, say Clatsop
County officials, making it
even more difficult to find out
who is the actual holder of a
trust deed.
Multnomah County filed
the initial suit against the pri-
vate registry in 2012. That
lawsuit was eventually settled
in the county’s favor, bringing
in $9 million to county cof-
fers. The registry agreed to
stop using itself as the bene-
ficiary in Multnomah County,
but has made no such state-
ments regarding anywhere
else in Oregon, Reynolds said.
Clatsop County would not
be looking at nearly as large
of a settlement as Multnomah,
according to Reynolds and
Moore, but MERS trans-
fers are still occurring in the
county and joining the lawsuit
could help the county collect
what the company hasn’t paid
in filing fees thus far.
According to county doc-
uments, Clatsop County has
had over 10,000 trust deeds
filed since 2011 where the
registry is named as the ben-
eficiary. But the county
believes a great number of
these loans have transferred
owners throughout the last
five years.
For every transfer in Clat-
sop County, the registry
should be paying a base $47
filing, according to Tom Ben-
nett, the county public infor-
mation officer. In a schedule
of recording fees found on the
county’s website, the county
clerk’s office also charges $5
per each additional page of
a document as well as $5 for
By LUKE WHITTAKER
EO Media Group
She started with apprehen-
sion, but now considers her
profession a privilege. For the
past 40 years, funeral direc-
tor Renee Caldwell has been
a peaceful presence in what
is typically a turbulent time in
the lives of those seeking her
service.
“There are so many facets in
funeral service — I was appre-
hensive,” Caldwell said reflect-
ing on her first days as funeral
director in the early 80s. “Once
I got into it, I felt privileged
to be in this business because
you’re helping people.” Since
1976, Caldwell has been help-
ing people through the toughest
of times as funeral director at
Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mor-
tuary & North Coast Crema-
tory in Astoria.
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Clatsop County Manager
Cameron Moore says the
county may be missing
out on up to $70,000 s
year in filing fees.
each additional transaction in
a document.
Clatsop County and the
other counties in the law-
suit are being represented by
the same attorney who rep-
resented Multnomah County,
Tom D’Amore of Lake
Oswego.
The county Board of
Commissioners voted unan-
imously to join the lawsuit.
The county will pay D’Amore
a $1,500 retaining fee for his
services.
The other counties listed
in the lawsuit include Clack-
amas, Coos, Crook, Jackson,
Josephine, Klamath, Lane,
Linn, Marion, Washington
and Yamhill.
Tradition amid
transition
Caldwell has witnessed
a gradual shift in preference
from traditional burials to more
cremations.
“We sell less caskets,” Cald-
well said. “It’s changed from
majority traditional services to
more memorial services with
Luke Whittaker/EO Media Group
Over the past 40 years, Renee Caldwell has been helping
people through the toughest of times as funeral director
at Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary & North Coast Crema-
tory in Astoria.
cremation instead of a full
burial at the cemetery.” Cald-
well estimates the services are
approximately 80 percent cre-
mation and 20 percent tradi-
tional burial, a reversal from
she first started 40 years ago.
“In 1976, we weren’t all
traditional, but I would say 75
percent,” she said. In 2014,
Washington and Oregon were
among the top three states with
the highest cremation percent-
age both averaging about 75
percent according to the Cre-
mation Association of North
“We do everything here,”
Caldwell said. A direct crema-
tion, which includes local trans-
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America. Caldwell believes
the trend toward cremation will
continue.
“I think the larger cremation
rate is here to stay,” she said.
The change in preference
has been gradual over the years
and the business has adapted
to accommodate the growing
demand. In 1996, they added
their own in-house crematory.
fer of the deceased to a funeral
home, refrigeration, basic ser-
vices by funeral director and
staff, costs $990. The price of
funerals has been a factor in
the eroding favorability of tra-
ditional burials versus crema-
tory services. Caldwell esti-
mated that a traditional burial
costs $4,000 to $6,000 more
than cremation, depending on
the specific services.
“It depends on what kind
of casket and what kind of
services they’re wanting and
whether they’ve already bought
cemetery property,” Caldwell
said. The financial burden of
funerals has led many to being
more proactive.
“People are doing more
prearranging,” Caldwell said.
“They buy their cemetery plots
in advance.” Each family is dif-
ferent, and Caldwell feels priv-
ileged to be in the position to
help.
“By the time they leave here
I want them completely happy
with what they’ve selected,
whether it be cremation, burial,
traditional services or memo-
rial services,” Caldwell said,
“That’s my job as a funeral
director.”
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